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H.R. 2607 (105th)

An Act making omnibus consolidated appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1998, and for other purposes.

enactedUnited States· United States Congress· EN

Introduced

6 October 1997

Last action

—

Status

Became Public Law No: 105-100.

Sponsors

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Subjects

Discovery layer

Source updated

7 April 2025

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Summary

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Fiscal Year 1998 Appropriations Title II: District of Columbia Medical Liability Reform Subtitle A: Standards for Health Care Liability Actions and Claims in the District of Columbia Subtitle B: General Provisions Subtitle C: Effective Date Title III: District of Columbia Education Reform Act of 1997 Subtitle A: Amendments to District of Columbia School Reform Act of 1995 Subtitle B: Student Opportunity Scholarships Subtitle C: Other Education Reforms District of Columbia Appropriations, Medical Liability Reform, and Education Reform Act of 1998 - Makes appropriations for the District of Columbia for FY 1998. Title I: Fiscal Year 1998 Appropriations - District of Columbia Appropriations Act, 1998 - Appropriates Federal funds for: (1) the contribution to the operation of the District government; (2) the Office of the Inspector General; (3) a five percent pay increase for police officers who perform nonadministrative public safety services and meet certain minimum standards; (4) a five percent pay increase for uniformed fire fighters; (5) the public schools; (6) payment to the District's Corrections Trustee; (7) payment to the District's Corrections Trustee for Correctional Facilities; (8) payment to the District's criminal justice system; (9) the U.S. Park Police; and (10) the District of Columbia Scholarship Fund. Appropriates specified sums out of the District's general fund (and other funds, in some cases) for the current fiscal year for: (1) the District of Columbia Taxpayers Relief Fund; (2) the District of Columbia Deficit Reduction Fund; (3) governmental direction and support; (4) economic development and regulation; (5) public safety and justice; (6) the public education system; (7) human support services; (8) public works; (9) the Washington Convention Center Enterprise Fund; (10) repayment of loans and interest; (11) repayment of the general fund recovery debt; (12) payment of interest on short-term borrowing; (13) certificates of participation; (14) human resources development; (15) the Management Reform and Productivity Fund; (16) critical improvements and repairs to school facilities and streets; (17) the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority (Authority); (18) the Water and Sewer Authority and the Washington Aqueduct; (19) the Lottery and Charitable Games Enterprise Fund; (20) the Cable Television Enterprise Fund; (21) the Public Service Commission; (22) the Office of the People's Counsel; (23) the Department of Insurance and Securities Regulation; (24) the Office of Banking and Financial Institutions; (25) the Starplex Fund; (26) the District of Columbia (D.C.) General Hospital; (27) the D.C. Retirement Board; (28) the Correctional Industries Fund; and (29) capital outlay. Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, such funds. Bars the use of revenues from Federal sources to support the operations of the D.C. Statehood and Statehood Compact Commissions. Requires the District to identify the sources of funding for Admission to Statehood from its own locally-generated revenues. (Sec. 110) Prohibits funds appropriated in this Act from being available to pay the salary of any District government employee whose name, title, grade, salary, work experience, and salary history are not available for inspection by specified congressional committees and subcommittees and the District Council. (Sec. 114) Bars the D.C. Mayor from borrowing any funds for capital projects without prior approval of the Council. (Sec. 124) Applies any sequestration orders under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to each account appropriating Federal funds in this Act rather than to the aggregate total of such accounts. Requires the Mayor, in the event such an order is issued after amounts appropriated to the District have been paid, to pay sequestered amounts to the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary). (Sec. 128) Bars the use of Federal funds provided in this Act to provide for salaries or other expenses associated with the offices of U.S. Senator or Representative under the District of Columbia Statehood Constitutional Convention Initiatives of 1979. (Sec. 129) Prohibits the expenditure of funds appropriated under this Act for abortions except where the mother's life would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term or in cases of rape or incest. (Sec. 130) Bars the use of funds made available in this Act to enforce the Health Care Benefits Expansion Act of 1992 or to implement any system of registration of unmarried, cohabitating couples for purposes of extending employment, health, or governmental benefits to such couples on the same basis as extended to married couples. (Sec. 136) Makes the evaluation process and instruments for evaluating District public school employees a non-negotiable item for collective bargaining purposes. (Sec. 138) Amends the District of Columbia Government Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act of 1978 to authorize District government agency heads, during FY 1998, to identify positions for abolishment. Requires any District employee in such a position, regardless of hiring date, to be separated without competition or assignment rights, except as provided by this section. Entitles an affected employee who, but for this section, would be entitled to compete for retention, to one round of lateral competition limited to positions in the employee's competitive level. Adds five years to the creditable service of employees who are bona fide District residents for reduction-in-force purposes. Considers certain nonresident District employees to be residents as well. Sets forth provisions regarding notification, contests of determinations or separations, and severance pay. Requires the Mayor to submit a listing of all positions to be abolished to the Council by March 1, 1998, or upon the delivery of termination notices to individual employees. Restricts providers from whom District employees may receive disability compensation services to District government medical officers and hospitals or physicians or managed care organizations approved by the Mayor. (Currently, employees have the option of choosing services by physicians or hospitals approved by the Mayor.) (Sec. 139) Establishes a ceiling on total operating expenses for the District for FY 1998. Sets forth conditions under which grants excluded from such ceiling may be accepted. Repeals provisions of certain laws which authorize the Authority and the Water and Sewer Authority to expend non-appropriated funds derived from interest or excess revenues. (Sec. 140) Amends the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to grant the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) authority to appoint and remove specified accounting, budget, and financial personnel, including employees of the District Lottery and Charitable Games Control Board. Considers such personnel at-will employees not covered by the District of Columbia Government Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act of 1978. Prohibits the Mayor from entering into any contract, or issuing any order or regulation, with respect to any authority or activity under the CFO's jurisdiction. Adds administering the District's Medicaid plan to the list of the CFO's duties. Sets forth procedures and conditions for removal of the CFO by the Authority or the Mayor. (Sec. 141) Prohibits any person from having disability status, for purposes of any District retirement program for teachers, police, or fire fighters, unless the determination of status is made by a single entity designated by the District to make such determinations. Requires the Mayor, by January 1, 1998, and every six months thereafter, to engage an enrolled actuary to provide an analysis of the actuarial impact of disability retirements occurring during the previous six-month period on the police and fire fighter retirement programs. (Sec. 142) Sets forth Buy-American requirements. (Sec. 143) Requires all Special Masters appointed by the District Superior Court or the U.S. district court for the District circuit to any District government agency to submit annual estimates of expenditures and appropriations to the Authority for inclusion in the annual budget. (Sec. 144) Amends the District of Columbia Government Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act of 1978 to bar the commencement of corrective or adverse actions, for members of the Metropolitan Police Department, more than 120 days after the date the agency knew or should have known of the act allegedly constituting cause for action. (Sec. 145) Requires the Department to change the advance notice required to be given to officers for out-of-schedule assignments from 28 to 14 days. Bars overtime for such assignments if the Department provides the officer with 14 days' advance notice of the assignment change. (Sec. 146) Requires any unused surplus at the end of the fiscal year to be used to reduce the District's outstanding accumulated deficit, except as otherwise provided by this Act. (Sec. 148) Increases the salary of a sworn officer of the Metropolitan Police Department by five percent if the officer: (1) performs primarily nonadministrative public safety services; and (2) is certified by the Chief of the Department as having met certain minimum standards. (Sec. 149) Amends the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to prohibit the Council from enacting any act or rule which increases the payment for any individual under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program to an amount greater than that provided under the District of Columbia Public Assistance Act of 1982, as in effect on the day after the effective date of the Public Assistance Temporary Amendment Act of 1997. (Sec. 151) Requires the Water and Sewer Authority to impose liens against properties with past due payments of 60 days or more. (Sec. 152) Amends the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Act of 1985 to prohibit the Authority from entering into any contract, or issuing any order or regulation, with respect to any authority or activity under the CFO's or Inspector General's jurisdiction. (Sec. 153) Requires the CFO to enter into a contract with a private entity for: (1) establishing an update of the present financial management system by June 30, 1998, to provide for the accurate and timely input and processing of financial data and the generation of reliable output reports; and (2) executing a process in accordance with "best practices" procedures of the information technology industry to determine the need for further improving such system. Sets forth short-term financial management system improvements. Directs a private entity to certify whether the District has implemented policies that will result in a disciplined approach to the acquisition of such system. Withholds funds for system replacement and improvement (excepting funds for the contracts described in this section) until certain Federal and District officials certify to specified congressional committees that the District has implemented such policies. (Sec. 154) Bars the use of funds made available under any Act to carry out any contract to conduct an annual audit of the complete financial statement and report of District activities for FY 1997 or any succeeding fiscal year unless the contract is entered into by the District Inspector General. Amends the District of Columbia Procurement Practices Act of 1985 to prohibit the Mayor from entering into any contract, or issuing any order or regulation, with respect to any authority or activity under the Inspector General's jurisdiction. Sets forth procedures and conditions for removal of the Inspector General by the Authority or the Mayor. Requires District permit or license application forms to include the telephone number established by the Inspector General for reporting waste, fraud, and abuse. Directs the Inspector General to make quarterly reports to the Congress on the number and nature of calls and on the waste, fraud, and abuse detected as a result of such calls. (Sec. 155) Requires the use of direct deposit or checks through the mail for payments made by the District during FY 1998 or succeeding fiscal years. (Sec. 156) Sets forth information to be included in the District's independent annual audit. Amends the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Act of 1995 to provide for annual audits of the Authority. (Sec. 157) Amends the Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act of 1980 to shorten the time period under which specified unclaimed personal property shall be presumed to be abandoned. Sets forth criteria for the presumption of abandonment and updates reporting requirements for holders of such property. Requires holders of such property to notify owners of possession only if they have an accurate address and the value of the property is at least $50. Imposes a waiting period on the sale of such property. Bars any action by the Mayor to enforce reporting, delivery, or payment requirements with respect to such property more than ten years after the holder identified the property in a report to the Mayor or gave notice of a dispute regarding the property. Tolls the period of limitation in the absence of such report or notice. Prescribes penalties for failures to report, pay, or deliver property as required. (Sec. 158) Prohibits the use of funds made available in any Act by the District to obtain borrowing to finance or refund the accumulated general fund deficit existing as of September 30, 1997. Repeals provisions of the District of Columbia Revenue Act of 1939 and the District of Columbia Home Rule Act which permit the Secretary to make advances of funds to assist in liquidating such deficit and which authorize the issuance of general obligation bonds for such purpose, respectively. Amends the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to prohibit the District from borrowing any funds or issuing any bonds, notes, or obligations to repay any other borrowing or issuance unless: (1) the aggregate cost of the new borrowing or issuance does not exceed the aggregate cost of the original borrowing or issuance; and (2) the date provided for the final repayment of the new borrowing or issuance is not later than the date provided for the final repayment of the original borrowing or issuance. Requires all general obligation bonds to be sold at public sales. (Currently, private sales are authorized as well.) (Sec. 159) Reopens the portion of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House to regular vehicular traffic beginning January 1, 1998. (Sec. 160) Amends the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Act of 1995 to require the Secretary, during any control year, to deposit the Federal contribution to the District into an escrow account held by the Authority, which shall allocate such funds to the Mayor. (A control year is any year in which a financial plan and budget approved by the Authority is in effect for periods in which the District is unable to meet certain financial obligations.) Requires District government officials or employees to provide specified congressional committees with information and materials upon request. Bars the use of funds made available in any Act by the District to grant a permit to any person to provide helicopter tours of the District. Title II: District of Columbia Medical Liability Reform - Subtitle A: Standards for Health Care Liability Actions and Claims in the District of Columbia - District of Columbia Medical Liability Reform Act of 1997 - Prohibits a District health care liability action from being brought after the two-year period beginning on the date the alleged injury was, or should have been, discovered. Bars actions five years after the alleged injury occurred. (Sec. 203) Limits noneconomic damages in such actions to $250,000. Permits only several, and not joint, liability with respect to noneconomic damages. (Sec. 204) Permits the award of punitive damages if the claimant establishes that the harm suffered was the result of conduct intended to cause harm or manifesting a conscious, flagrant indifference to the rights or safety of others. Limits punitive damages to the greater of three times the amount of damages awarded for economic loss or $250,000. (Sec. 205) Bars punitive damages against manufacturers or product sellers of drugs or medical devices which caused the claimant's harm if such a drug or device was subject to premarket approval or was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or is generally recognized as safe and effective pursuant to FDA regulations. Absolves such manufacturers or product sellers from liability for punitive damages related to actions regarding tamper-resistant packaging unless the packaging or labeling is substantially out of compliance with Department of Health and Human Services regulations. (Sec. 206) Provides for periodic payments in cases where future and noneconomic losses exceed $50,000. (Sec. 207) Authorizes defendants in District health care liability actions to introduce evidence of collateral source payments. Bars providers of such payments from recovering amounts against claimants. Subtitle B: General Provisions - Makes this title inapplicable to actions for damages from vaccine-related injuries or death to the extent that the Public Health Service Act applies to such actions or actions under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. Preempts District law to the extent such law is inconsistent with the limitations contained in this title. Provides that this title shall not preempt laws that provide additional defenses or limits to liability. Subtitle C: Effective Date - Applies this title to any District health care liability action and to any claim subject to an alternative dispute resolution system initiated after this title's enactment date. Requires actions or claims arising from injuries occurring prior to such date to be governed by the statute of limitations in effect at the time the injury occurred. Title III: District of Columbia Education Reform Act of 1997 - Subtitle A: Amendments to District of Columbia School Reform Act of 1995 - District of Columbia Education Reform Amendments Act of 1997 - Amends the District of Columbia School Reform Act of 1995 to remove the termination date for such Act. (Sec. 303) Revises the timetable for the approval of public charter school petitions. (Sec. 304) Increases the maximum allowable number of trustees for such schools. (Sec. 305) Requires the Mayor to lease certain unused or current school facilities or properties, at an annual rate of one dollar, to eligible charter school applicants whose petitions have been conditionally approved or a Board of Trustees, subject to certain conditions. Terminates such leases upon: (1) denial of an application to renew, or revocation of, a charter; (2) entry of a judicial order upholding denial or revocation; or (3) termination of a conditional approval. (Sec. 307) Provides for adjustments of annual payments for: (1) schools serving a high number of students to whom room and board in a residential setting are provided; and (2) public charter schools, upon request, to take into account leases or purchases of, or improvements to, real property. (Sec. 309) Revises provisions regarding payments for new schools. Establishes the New Charter School Fund for making annual payments for certain new public charter schools. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 310) Changes the eligibility criteria for a specified grant to a private, nonprofit corporation to eliminate the requirement that the business organization be a national organization. Subtitle B: Student Opportunity Scholarships - Authorizes the establishment of a private, nonprofit corporation to be known as the District of Columbia Scholarship Corporation. Establishes the District of Columbia Scholarship Fund in the Treasury. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Corporation to implement a schedule and procedures for processing student scholarship applications. Lists eligibility requirements for institutions desiring certification for participation in the scholarship program. (Sec. 343) Authorizes the Corporation to award tuition scholarships and enhanced achievement scholarships to students in kindergarten through grade 12 who are District residents and whose family income does not exceed 185 percent of the poverty line. Sets forth authorized uses of such scholarships, including the payment of tuition and fees at private or independent schools in Maryland and Virginia. (Sec. 349) Requires participating institutions to make annual reports on scholarship students. (Sec. 350) Directs the Comptroller General to enter into a contract for an independent evaluation of the scholarship program, including comparisons of test scores and graduation rates of scholarship students and District public school students of similar backgrounds, parent satisfaction with the program, and the impact of the program on District public schools. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 351) Grants the U.S. district court for the District circuit jurisdiction in actions challenging the scholarship program and makes district court orders reviewable by appeal directly to the Supreme Court. (Sec. 352) Makes this subtitle effective for FY 1998 through 2002. Subtitle C: Other Education Reforms - Reduces the number of full-time equivalent employees of District public schools whose principal duty is not classroom instruction. (Sec. 362) Requires District public schools to implement performance benchmarks for teachers, based on student ability to improve by at least one grade level each year on standardized tests, and to establish incentives to encourage teachers to meet such benchmarks. (Sec. 363) Provides for a waiver of certain contracting requirements with respect to construction or maintenance projects in District public schools. (Sec. 364) Makes real property of labor organizations located in the District subject to taxation by the District in the same manner as similar organizations. (Sec. 365) Requires District public school supervisory personnel to be appointed by, and act under the control of, the Emergency Transitional Education Board of Trustees. Considers such personnel at-will employees not covered by the District of Columbia Government Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act of 1978. (Sec. 366) Directs the District Auditor to report to the Congress and specified District entities on the number, and average daily attendance, of students enrolled in public schools. (Sec. 367) Requires the District public schools to submit budgets for FY 1998 for each elementary and secondary school to the Congress. (Sec. 368) Bars the use of funds made available in any Act by the District public schools to provide classroom instruction or child care services to any minor whose parent or guardian does not supply the schools with proof of the State of the minor's residence. (Sec. 369) Prohibits the use or transfer of funds made available in any Act for the District of Columbia School of Law if the school is not fully, unconditionally accredited by the American Bar Association by January 31, 1998. Excepts funds provided to assist students enrolled at the school who are District residents in paying tuition for enrollment at other law schools in the Washington area. (Sec. 370) Waives civil liability for acts or omissions of any person voluntarily providing goods or services to the District public schools. Makes such waiver inapplicable if the act or omission involved gross negligence or an intentional tort or is criminal in nature.

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